The Modern Journalist

Book Review: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

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I’ve been threatening to review Joe Trippi’s book about his role with the Howard Dean campaign in 2004, the campaign that tapped into the social media networks emerging online to not only raise more money than a candidate had ever done before but also to galvanize voters by going around traditional media outlets to speak directly with voters.

The book is one of the first I recommend to lay people who want to experience the joy — and fear — associated with social media, which effectively removes control from one centralized location.

That mind-numbing fear that comes with that isn’t just limited to politicians, though. Everywhere I go, the one constant I hear is that people are afraid to cede control of their network to the masses because if they do that, the argument goes, bad things can happen.

And there’s nothing that anyone can say to make that fear go away. But this book does a good job of explaining what can happen if you can embrace that experience.

Trippi also does an good job explaining the development of communication technology without going to far down the nerd path that oftentimes overwhelms those trying to get just a grasp of what is happening online.

Chapter 4: The Moment is — for those with limited time — the best chapter to read in terms of understanding the tipping point that happens with these networks.

In Chapter 5: Vermont, though, he most clearly identifies the problem facing media companies today.

Forty years of reliance on television advertising has atrophied creativity, forcing everyone to approach every problem the same way.

The media — and maybe the culture — repeatedly has tried to replicate itself with this emerging medium, hoping to create a template for innovation instead of embracing the ideals and principles of the Web and the Internet’s history.

If you don’t get it (that historical view), I wrote in my notes, you can’t possibly get it (what you can do today).

Trippi goes on to describe the disconnect between what was happening online and the length of time it took for that to translate into real world success, another key point to the book.

Too often, people try something online and within weeks of a launch they are ready to change again. The driving point behind the book is that you have to build this just as you would any other system and then allow time to train the people who are using the system.

Results are not immediate even online.

No, at least in February and early March, there wasn’t a single rally that we could point to, or an endorsement, or a poll that suddenly showed Dean moving up. There was this sense that people were gathering, deciding to get together. There was just this hum of excitement and activity, the sound of people beginning to ask what was possible.

When it works it’s a groundswell, I wrote in my notes. You have to have your ear to the ground to hear the horses hooves banging to know that there are riders coming towards you. Otherwise, the social explosion appears to be from nowhere.

Which, of course, is exactly what happened to the traditional press. Dean’s campaign appeared out of nowhere because to groundswell was not anything they expected — or even knew HOW to expect.

Trippi is currently working on an updated version of the book, which I suspect will come out later this year — probably around election time.